CONFERENCES, incentives and trade exhibitions account for Hong Kong’s fastest-growing visitor segment so far this year, with official figures also showing a strong rebound in international business events being held in the city.
Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) reports that of 21 million visitors arriving in the city between January and June this year, 700,000 of the overnight arrivals came for MICE events.
This figure represents 80 per cent of the same level in 2018. A year later, scenes of social unrest tarnished the city’s image followed by Covid further disrupting business events from 2020 before the last anti-virus restrictions were eased in March last year.
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HKTB has helped secure more than 60 world-class events including new conferences and exhibitions as it strengthens Hong Kong’s appeal as the “World’s Meeting Place”.
Each business event visitor spends an average of HK$8,000 (about US$1,026), according to HKTB. This is about 20 to 30 per cent higher than the average per capita spending of inbound travellers.
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In 2023, as international business event activity in the city recovered, MICE visitors stayed 3.7 nights on average, compared to the average of 3.2 nights for all overnight visitors.
“MICE tourism helped attract more international tourists too, as half of the overnight MICE visitors came from international markets, compared to 25 per cent of all overnight visitors,” HKTB said in a statement.
Over 60 world congresses, in addition to new trade shows and mega meetings, are set to attract more than 180,000 inbound visitors
HKTB said the “impetus to grow the MICE sector“ has been sustained through the help it has provided for public and private sector event bids.
More than 60 large-scale international MICE events have been secured for Hong Kong and are due to take place over the next two years, many of them first-time events in the city. The line-up of events is expected to attract 180,000-plus visitors from mainland China and internationally.
The events span a wide range of themes and industries,” HKTB said. “On top of sectors where Hong Kong boasts unique strengths, such as innovation and technology, medical sciences and financial services, new themes of other sectors such as aviation, architecture, education are also trending among the latest event wins.”
Bid wins include the return of tech and graphics conference ACM SIGGRAPHi Asia next year, after it was last held in Hong Kong in 2013. Several debuts include innovation and technology events SmartCon 2024 and Consensus Hong Kong 2025. In logistics and aviation comes Super Terminal Expo 2024, Routes World 2025 and Airspace Asia Pacific.
New world congresses to debut in Hong Kong in 2026 include the World Cancer Congress and the International Federation of Landscape Architects World Congress.
“These significant event wins not only solidify Hong Kong’s status as the world’s meeting place but also strengthen the city’s leading status across these industry sectors,” HKTB said.
5 Event Strategies
To maintain the growth momentum, the HKTB will continue to:
– Make every effort to secure and bid for major international MICE events to be held in Hong Kong;– Offer various funding schemes to support events of different scale and types, benefiting the trade, travel agents, hotels and more;
– Continue boosting MICE tourism growth through tailored programmes including the “Hong Kong Incentive Playbook” and the “Hong Kong Convention Ambassadors” programme;
– Enhance in-town experiences for visitors by arranging value-added activities, from sightseeing tours to complimentary tickets to museums, to showcase Hong Kong’s tourism appeal on top of business fundamentals;
– Emphasise Hong Kong’s unique advantages, especially as a “super-connector” for international businesses seeking mainland China markets, in event bids, publicity and promotions. This would highlight the city’s hardware advantages such as world-class venues, and well-connected transport infrastructure.
